Furman is focused

Bafana midfielder wants to help the team qualify for continental showpiece

THE ZERO in Bafana Bafana’s loss column excites and inspires Dean Furman, who is 90 minutes away from appearing in his third Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).

Furman, who represented South Africa in the 2013 and 2015 editions, is back in the national team fold after missing last year’s clash with Nigeria due to injury. A win against the Super Eagles at FNB Stadium would have seen Bafana book a ticket to Egypt with a game to spare.

Now they have to do it the hard way, get a result in Tunisia against a Libyan side who are driven to give their countrymen something to cheer about after years of suffering due to political instability and infighting.

Bafana need just a draw against the Mediterranean Knights in Sfax on Sunday (7pm kick-off) to qualify for the continental showpiece.

“I was at the game against Nigeria and the boys did very well,” Furman said, speaking from Tunis.

“What we’ve got to remember is that we are undefeated in this group, and obviously if it remains that way we will qualify. We’ve got to take that as a huge positive.

“We’ve taken on one of the best teams in Africa, we beat them away and we put on a good performance at home. So we can come into this camp with a lot of confidence.”

Bafana have opted to camp in Tunis due to better training facilities before making the almost 300km bus ride to Sfax tomorrow. Stuart Baxter’s men are training at the home of Esperance, Stade Olympique d’El Menzah.

The venue is a familiar sight for Hlompho Kekana, Tiyani Mabunda, Themba Zwane and Percy Tau who have been here before with Mamelodi Sundowns.

Thembinkosi Lorch and Innocent Maela recently visited the venue with Orlando Pirates in the CAF Champions League.

The squad Baxter assembled has a sprinkling of everything, from international experience at having played in more than one Afcon, to Champions League experience with players who have won the biggest prize in club football in the continent, as well as European experience from players who left their comfort zones to battle it out in the highly demanding leagues like France’s Ligue 1.

Furman is part of the group of players with lots of international experience.

The 30-year-old will earn his 50th Bafana cap should he make an appearance against the Libyans. He travelled the length and breadth of the continent in the 2017 CAF Confederation Cup, which SuperSport United lost in the final.

That spell came at a cost, Matsatsantsa a Pitori flirted with relegation and the heavy toll of matches led to Furman sustaining a shoulder injury that ruled him out of the clash with Nigeria.

While he was working to regain his fitness, Furman had an eye on this clash against Libya which could make or break Baxter’s tenure in his second spell as Bafana coach.

“I had to put in a lot of hard work for my recovery, not only to be fit but also to be sharp so that I am a part of this camp,” Furman said.

“That was always at the back of my mind, I wanted to make sure that I was playing well and pushing hard to be a part of this squad because these are the games that you want to be a part of. You want to represent your country and there’s a huge prize at the end of it for all of us who are here. We’re so focused on going to the Afcon this time around which is why we want to make sure that we do the job on Sunday.”